Questions tagged [gpl]

The GNU's General Public License, a commonly-used free software license. The GPL has various versions, v1-v3, so use this tag only for questions talking about overarching issues of the licenses or shared characteristics. For example, for a question about a unique section on version 3, use the [gpl-3] tag.

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Does the GPL require sharing source code if I charge for a consultation with the software?

I've been reading a whole lot and can't seem to find this specific question. I am currently making a software which will ideally be used to provide information to people that pay for consultations. ...
Sqwan's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
74 views

How can I tell if Elementor templates are GPL licensed or not?

I have some Elementor templates but I don't know if they are GPL licensed. How can I tell which license they are under?
Ajay's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
1 answer
161 views

GNU General Public License v3.0 Embedded Web Program Question

Say I have a program named X. If I edit X, I have to make the source code of X open source. If I have another program (say a web application) and I write my own code Y (which is closed source) and I ...
Titanium's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
2k views

Why does the GPL not specify a jurisdiction or choice of law clause?

tl;dr version Unlike most software licenses, the GPL (at least version 3.0) does not contain a choice of law provision. Why is this, and what provisions are in place to adjudicate disputes in the ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
461 views

Use of GPL licensed code in unit test source for verifying the operation of non GPL program that analyses source code

Say I have a program (not GPL compatible) that performs static analysis against source code through some pattern matching, similar to a linter. One way I could write unit tests for my program is to ...
Matthew Strasiotto's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
63 views

Confusion regarding the term source in GPLv3

I was reading https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html to understand about GPLv3 but it seems I am more confused with the term source. Is the word source referring to source of the library or my ...
Dark Sorrow's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
112 views

Does sending a link to software constitute "conveying" according to GPL?

Assume the following scenario: Alice obtains a GPL-licensed code and make modifications to it. However, she does not release the modifications to public, but instead uploads the modified code to ...
Petr's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
3k views

MariaDB: How can the license being held by a foundation forbid Oracle from buying MariaDB?

I was looking though : Learning MySQL and MariaDB [ Russell J.T. Dyer / O’Reilly / 2015 ] where I came across a licensing Issue. It says [ Preface Section ] : "The software license, though, is ...
Prem's user avatar
  • 233
18 votes
6 answers
3k views

Does this constitute a breach in GPL license? Article with GPL licensed software and Journal reviewer guidelines

Here is the scenario: As a researcher you are making a modification to some GPL3-licensed software, and thus if you were to distribute the code, you would need to do this using the GPL (or a ...
Arruda's user avatar
  • 283
11 votes
5 answers
2k views

Allow non-GPL plugins in a GPL main program

Suppose I'm writing a certain program, which I wish to license under strong copyleft license such as GPLv3. At the moment I have not used any 3rd party GPL code (I think there might be an LGPL library ...
Dan's user avatar
  • 213
5 votes
1 answer
773 views

Using Modified Linux in an Embedded device, the source code must be opened?

In Brazil Elections, they developed a modified Linux version called "UENUX" to run 570 thousand electronic vote machines, where the people go to Vote on those machines. Since they really ...
John's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
141 views

Can I create a GPL SaaS front-end application with lots of dependencies to Closed Source libraries

There is a GPLv2+ library that I want to use in my front-end SaaS web application The library is a JavaScript library There are lot's of valuable front-end code in my SaaS web application that I ...
Nerdy's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
200 views

Is it legitimate to access a Wordpress-based or Wordpress-powered Web site via the Startpage service’s Anonymous View feature?

The Web site for the Wordpress software indicates that the software is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) v2 (or any later version of the GPL) from what I can tell. A thought that ...
Richard's user avatar
  • 29
1 vote
0 answers
47 views

Distributing a GPL'd R package that includes java classes without sources

I found a software package (R library on CRAN) distributed under GPL license, which makes use of Java classes. The classes are distributed, but for the sources, a README states: "for access to ...
user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
970 views

If I add a misrepresentation clause to 3-clause BSD license would it remain GPL-compatible?

I would like to ask whether an otherwise standard 3-clause BSD license would remain GPL compatible if the following 4th clause is added: Altered versions (source code and/or binary) must be plainly ...
user28612's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
168 views

Which license I should use for public project?

the brief I want to do "open source" project. In my mind, I would like to : that the code has always the same license even if it is redistributed or sold etc... that the authors and ...
Hadock's user avatar
  • 143
1 vote
1 answer
111 views

As author of AGPL / GPL project, do I need to keep previous versions, or only current one?

As author of AGPL / GPL project, do I need to keep previous versions, or only current one? For example I made and published 50 versions of the project (via git). Can I delete previous modifications ...
user51616516516511's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
183 views

Can I write closed-source software that makes API calls to AGPL software?

I am writing a closed-source Java Card applet. But as a part of the functionality, I call a static RIPEMD160 method licenced under AGPL. The static method can be compiled separately and loaded onto ...
GeekOverdose's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
205 views

Commercial usage of a microservice with a GPLv3 library

There once was a time when my team decided to avoid usage of a GPLv3 licensed library (without modification). I didn't really know a thing about licenses at the time, so I just accepted it as a fact. ...
bottledmind's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
73 views

Launching an application from another application

I have a GUI program that launches at start-up on a Linux machine. And this GUI can launch other applications like Spotify. I want to put this machine as a car's infotainment system of a vehicle that ...
nostack's user avatar
  • 13
2 votes
2 answers
114 views

Can I include GPL source code as a world building object in a video game without making the game GPL?

Suppose I have a video game, and the player can interact with a computer in the game to find a file. Suppose the player can view the contents of a file in the video game, but otherwise the computer is ...
BurnsBA's user avatar
  • 123
3 votes
1 answer
63 views

GPL Licensing Using External Executable

I have a commercial plugin that operates within an open source application licensed under the GPL. Most of my source code will be legible, however, the plugin will get an activation token from an ...
Dr. Pontchartrain's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
178 views

Can I license certain components of my software as MIT, but have the overall software be Copyleft?

I'm considering releasing the source code of an App as Copyleft, but would like some individual components (just not the core project) to be used under a more permissive MIT license. How would this ...
Nathan's user avatar
  • 163
9 votes
3 answers
5k views

Can I make my own license? [duplicate]

I was getting frustrated because I really wanted to use a GPL Family license for a piece of software I am developing. However, some of my target audience, OS Developers, are closed source (looking at ...
IntegralPilot's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
139 views

Confusion about Licenses

I have confusion about how the GNU open source licenses and QT commercial licenses. In the QT's pricing page it says: Can I distribute Qt binaries in conjunction with my desktop or mobile application?...
nostack's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
2 answers
137 views

Automatically converted code from one language to another changes the license of a code?

I have code in a language and want to convert it automatically using a tool to another language. Is it considered a derivative work and should I follow the same license? Does it matter if it is MIT ...
Mauro's user avatar
  • 113
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why don't open source licenses give a more specific definition of "derivative works" to reduce ambiguity?

The Free Software Foundation is of the opinion that a program that links a library is a derivative work of that library, so a program that links to a GPL-licensed library would need to be distributed ...
Flux's user avatar
  • 643
1 vote
0 answers
140 views

Licensing in a scripting language - Copyleft

I am trying to understand when and where the copyleft of GPL v2|v3 applies, similar to this OS question. The way I understand it, is that if a derivative work is created AND distributed, copyleft ...
David's user avatar
  • 111
0 votes
0 answers
90 views

What happens if I allow "any later version" of a license but later versions violate the spirit of the original license? [duplicate]

Some software are released under the GPLv3 "or (at your option) any later version". Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0) allows recipients of the software to use MPL-2.0 or any later version:...
Flux's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
165 views

What GPL license to use on a Linux distro

What license should we use on a new linux distribution? I'm new in licensing and this really confuses me. Most "direct" programs, like desktop and the kernel itself, are licensed under GPLv2 ...
juffma's user avatar
  • 13
3 votes
1 answer
358 views

Can a program that uses a GPL library be closed source if it is distributed without the GPL library?

Suppose I create software that uses a library licensed under the GPL. If I distribute the software including the library, the software would have to be licensed under the GPL as well. But what if I ...
Flux's user avatar
  • 643
4 votes
1 answer
996 views

With GPLv3, do I have to bundle the source code with my deliverable or "provide a means" to obtain it?

I am planing to release a software I have written as donationware (free to download, donate if you want to support the development). However, it is bundling and (dynamically) linking to another ...
corgrath's user avatar
  • 143
2 votes
1 answer
71 views

Can GPLv3 contributions to a separate project be used without attribution?

I recently forked a relatively new GPLv3 project on GitHub, as it had seemingly been abandoned not long after its creator had published it, and I wanted to make some improvements, as it was in a ...
waterfall123's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
504 views

linking closed source with linux-vdso.so.1

I understand that if we link closed source code with GPL library then closed source will be considered as a derived work of GPL and it needs to be distributed. "Linking is the technical process ...
Varadhan Work's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
152 views

Can I release Mathematica codes under GPL, given Mathematica is a closed source software?

I have written some code in Mathematica, and want to make these codes available in GitHub when my paper would be published. Can I release Mathematica notebooks under GPL3? Mathematica itself is a ...
Archisman Panigrahi's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
209 views

Relicensing a library to GPL when an MIT-licensed program depends on it

I wrote a library and released it under the MIT license. Another developer and I started another project that depends on my library; it is also under the MIT license. I want to relicense my library ...
Someone's user avatar
  • 277
2 votes
1 answer
154 views

Web app with GPLv3 license, What does it mean by "6. If you modify it, you have to indicate changes made to the code."?

Apologize for my limited English skill. A web app with GPLv3 license on GitHub, I plan to use it and hopefully Ads revenue can help pay for the VPS and my time of maintaining it. By using it, I will ...
data 's user avatar
  • 23
3 votes
1 answer
93 views

Citing project with license but without copyright notice

The authors of a project whose code I wish to use and is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later have failed to provide a copyright notice. I know what their GitHub organization is. How should I cite their ...
mkl's user avatar
  • 235
5 votes
3 answers
142 views

Is treeware GPL compatible?

I recently noticed that some projects on GitHub are "Treeware". For example https://github.com/APIDevTools/swagger-methods (originally MIT license). The README says: This package is ...
Eric Stdlib's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
97 views

Does MySQL / MariaDB allow proprietary (i.e. close-sourced) storage engines?

I understand that MySQL (community edition) and MariaDB are under GPL v2 license. Does it mean that it is not allowed to build proprietary database storage engines for them? It is inevitable that one ...
L. Z.'s user avatar
  • 21
1 vote
1 answer
397 views

How to properly give credit to gpl3 code snippet

I have a simple MIT licensed project and need to include a about 10 lines of GPL3 code (some math stuff that needs to be the same). I know that i need to change the license of my project, give credit ...
user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

A clarification on a GPL "interpreter clause" corner case

The GPL clearly states that in the case of interpreters, if the interpreter is linked against a derived work, and the interpreted program code reaches those bindings, then the licensing extends to it ...
dtech's user avatar
  • 479
5 votes
1 answer
302 views

Is this flutter plugin wrongly licensed under MIT?

I've found a flutter plugin on pub.dev that is licensed under MIT, but in its build.gradle for Android building it references another library that seems to be a fork of a GPLv2 library. In turn, I ...
Letal1s's user avatar
  • 53
2 votes
0 answers
56 views

Including Apache 2 Licensed Code in Project

I have a large codebase licensed under GPL. There is another codebase I found one specific file to be useful in, and the whole codebase is under Apache 2. I cannot change the license of my project, ...
figbar's user avatar
  • 121
3 votes
1 answer
115 views

Can you dual-license your own code, e.g. release a library as strict GPL (not LGPL), but then use that library in your own proprietary program? [duplicate]

As the author of a codebase, I understand that I have the right to decide how to license my code. If I write a library of code and release it under the pure GPL, that means that anyone else using my ...
fdmillion's user avatar
  • 417
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is database migration script covered by GPL?

I am using a product whose code is covered by GPL2. All fine except that when a major update is released, it relies on database changes which are effected by a script (sometimes hundreds of lines long)...
tglare's user avatar
  • 69
4 votes
3 answers
177 views

Non Wordpress-repository Plugin license

A client asked me to write a WP plugin that is just for their website - it won't be on the repository. Basically it contains a form, place-able with a shortcode, and then sends the collected entry ...
gladys's user avatar
  • 43
2 votes
1 answer
362 views

Using copyleft software (GPL v2) and distribute it with proprietary software

My case: My app is proprietary full-stack server app that will be distributed as closed source. I want to package my app into an VM. The VM have Ubuntu installed which contains Linux (GPL v2 licensed)...
nouvist's user avatar
  • 197
0 votes
1 answer
185 views

How can I use mysqlclient for db connection in django for commercial application?

I have been using mysqlclient package for MySQL DB connection in Django and recently realized mysqlclient is in GPL license. Is it fine to use mysqlclient package in a private repo for a commercial ...
discover's user avatar
  • 111
4 votes
1 answer
769 views

Can proprietary-licensed software execute shell commands that are probably GPL licensed?

Can proprietary-licensed software (that will be distributed, alongside with the hardware) use GPL software (distributed from package manager)?. It's basically scientific-measurement-device, that ...
Garid's user avatar
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